NCAA upholds penalty against former Alabama assistant Bo Davis

The NCAA denied an appeal from Bo Davis on Thursday and upheld a two-year show-cause penalty it placed upon the former Alabama assistant in April that runs through April 13, 2019.

According to an NCAA release, Davis argued that the show-cause order should expire two years from the date he resigned at Alabama, which was April 29, 2016, rather than two years from when the NCAA ruled on his case, which was this past April.

However, the penalty was upheld. That means Davis, who is now UTSA's defensive line coach, can't do any off-campus recruiting through April 13, 2019.

"The appellate committee noted that neither NCAA rules nor past cases consider timing other than the announcement of penalties as the start date," the NCAA release said. "The committee also noted the infractions panel provided substantial leniency to the former assistant coach given that he was subject to a show cause order ranging from a minimum of five years to a maximum of 10 years with a prohibition on all athletically related duties. The infractions panel noted in its decision that this shorter show-cause penalty was due to the nature of the underlying recruiting violations and the university's swift action once the violations came to its attention."

According to the NCAA, Davis knowingly committed a recruiting violation when he met with four prospective recruits before coaches were allowed to have such contact with those players during a meeting that the NCAA says was pre-arranged by a "booster."

Davis then provided false or misleading information about the meeting and the booster's involvement when questioned by Alabama and the NCAA, according to the NCAA.

Alabama, though, didn't face any penalties beyond three self-imposed penalties -- a $5,000 fine, disassociation from the "booster" and restricting Davis and his replacement, Karl Dunbar, from off-campus recruiting or telephone contact with recruits from April 22, 2016 through May 31, 2016.

Matt Zenitz is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.